When we see records being broken and unprecedented events such as this, the onus is on those who deny any connection to climate change to prove their case. Global warming has fundamentally altered the background conditions that give rise to all weather. In the strictest sense, all weather is now connected to climate change. Kevin Trenberth

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Monday, July 14, 2014

Netroots Nation -- some events on July 17, 2014

This panel will discuss right wing tactics—from climate change deniers to misinformation campaigns on birth control, sex ed, and abortion—that use fake science to try to attack progressive movements. Panelists will present successful strategies devised to counter the right’s attacks, and identify best practices on how to respond when the right comes at you with fake science.

The Koch brothers’ petrochemical empire is poisoning the world and the American political process. From Detroit, home of the Koch petcoke mountain, to Sandy-ravaged New York City, where David Koch is the richest resident, leading climate justice activists will speak about how they’re fighting back against the corrupt fossil-fuel barons and building a better future.

Detroit natives can easily point to any number of challenges to food security in their community. Whether it’s the lack of fresh and affordable options or the insidious targeting of our kids by fast food outfits, the “healthy meal” is under attack. This problem isn’t unique to Detroit: these are problems facing communities of color and children across the country. Join us to explore the importance of—and threats to—food security in Detroit and lessons we can apply to broader campaigns around food justice. This panel will tell stories you’ll remember, offer lessons you can use in your work, and further weave us together as a community of food activists.

This screening showcase focuses on films that address our environmental challenges, and the moral questions these issues raise.

This showcase will tie films to action directly. After the discussion, presenters will invite the audience to join them at the nearby rally asserting that access to water is a basic human right — and calling on the city of Detroit to keep the water turned on for all its citizens.

Please join us for short presentations on three films followed by a moderated discussion. At12:50, there will be a pause for anyone who wishes to join the march for water rights. We will end promptly at 1:30 to join the rally for water rights taking place at 1:45 (only a 7-minute walk away).

Across the progressive movement, activists and organizations are embracing civil disobedience on a large scale as a tactic to escalate pressure in our most crucial fights—and getting results. We’ll share how progressives have leveraged the commitment of activists to increase pressure on decision makers.

Join us for an engaging discussion on environmental issues. We’ll seek to come away with some tangible steps on two key questions.

1. With the recent introduction of the EPA Clean Power proposal, the retirement of almost half of the nation’s coal plants, and the increase in clean energy generation, the environmental movement has witnessed great strides in the right direction. However, there is still more to be done. What are our next efforts going to be to build on this momentum? What are the next challenges, major or minor, we expect to face?

2. As the world adopts a more global approach to problem solving, consider how can we promote the concept of “the global environment” (as others have promoted the concept of “the global economy)? Outside of bringing attention to the issue of climate disruption and how it relates to the global problem, what other issues should we use to highlight the global environment “brand”?

With only 8,200 residents, southeast Michigan’s 48217 zip code is sandwiched between I-75 and giant industrial polluters. Smokestacks billow above schoolyards in River Rouge, MI, where more than 1.6 million pounds of hazardous chemicals are released into the community every year. The zip is part of Wayne County, which has the highest number of pediatric asthma cases in the state, combined with the highest state population of those living in poverty. Clean air and water violations abound the physical space, coupled with barriers to affordable cyberspace, threatening many residents’ ability to survive in a digital age. Learn about the interplay between environmental and digital justice in one community, from fighting for equal access to the internet, launching community media labs, and improving air quality.